There were fears by late 1994 that the policies or lack of them espoused by Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak and his ex-communist coalition, after more than one year in office, had brought Poland’s dynamic reforms grinding to a halt. The economic statistics, though not exciting, did not appear to give undue cause for concern, however. Inflation dropped slightly to 30% per year, while unemployment continued at about three million, a rate of about 17%. Industrial growth increased 11%, largely through improved trade with Russia, while per capita gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4% and the trade deficit was significantly reduced. The budget deficit was 3.5% of GDP, and the zloty remained firm throughout the year, with only a gradual devaluation.

Instead, what set the alarm bells ringing for reformers was the commercialization rather than the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Under this formula, 50% of all industrial enterprises appeared set to remain in the government-owned sector for the foreseeable future. That this slowdown in privatization reflected a strong current in public opinion was to be expected, as the population was now more clearly divided into economic winners and losers.

Only after considerable delay did Prime Minister Pawlak sign the privatization bill, enabling 444 enterprises to be privatized through the National Investment Funds. Another 28 were sold into the private sector, compared with 39 in 1993. Only 32 companies were listed on the country’s stock exchange, where the index kept just ahead of inflation.

Ailing and indebted state enterprises, especially the mining industry and inefficient farms, were receiving cheap credits and state subsidies and were defended by protectionist policies that were, in effect, creating a dual-sector economy. It was no surprise that such enterprises were among the major constituencies that supported the coalition government of Prime Minister Pawlak. The government also shied away from privatizing utilities such as telecommunications and transportation, while businesses that could be sold profitably, such as tobacco, oil refining, and banking enterprises, remained in state hands. The private sector, which produced all the economic growth, was burdened by high taxation and the increasing power of lobbies that were distorting the rules of the market.

As always, the political scene was punctuated by conflict between Pres. Lech Walesa and the coalition government. The battle was generally fought over the prerogative to fill key ministries, especially those considered to be within the scope of the president. This conflict was exemplified by Walesa’s attempt to dismiss the minister of defense, Piotr Kolodziejczyk (he finally succeeded in November), which, along with the earlier confrontation between Andrzej Olechowski’s Foreign Ministry and the legislature’s Foreign Affairs Commission, made it obvious to an increasingly cynical population that the presidential campaign for 1995 was under way.

With a turnout as low as 28% in the towns and 38% in the countryside, the local government elections in June raised the political temperature only slightly. The coalition parties were seeking to repeat their general-election triumph at the local level. In this they were only partially successful and, in fact, the elections witnessed the rebirth of the political right, which captured seats in the poorer eastern parts of the country. The Roman Catholic Church, which had sought to distance itself from politics in the wake of the 1993 elections to the Sejm (parliament), found itself once again embroiled in conflict with the state over the concordat, which the legislature refused to ratify but chose to defer until the matter of the constitution had been settled.

The debate over the Polish constitution provided the backdrop for the country’s politics since it not only would decide how secular Poland was to be but also would define the powers of the president and the legislature. Of the seven draft versions under consideration by the constitutional commission, it was the Solidarity draft backed by a campaign of more than one million signatures that attracted the most attention; it was notable for being accompanied by a rapprochement between Walesa and the Solidarity trade union after a period of estrangement.

Tensions within the ruling coalition of the Polish Peasant Party and the ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) continued, as did the oft-repeated warnings of a major split in the opposition Democratic Union. The major candidates for president included Aleksander Kwasniewski of the SLD; Jacek Kuron, regarded as the nation’s most popular politician; Olechowski, who as foreign minister succeeded in staying above party politics; former prime ministers Hanna Suchocka and Tadeusz Mazowiecki, both of the Democratic Union; and President Walesa, who could never be discounted as a contender regardless of public opinion polls.

It seemed likely that for the first time foreign affairs could be as prominent as the perennial domestic issues of abortion and religious education in the political campaign. Poland’s drive to gain membership in the European Union and NATO was given a significant boost by the visit of U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton in July; at that meeting any Russian veto of NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe was explicitly denied. Subsequent maneuvers held jointly with the Polish military and troops from NATO countries, on Polish territory, seemed to underline the Western commitment to the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. On the other hand, the last-minute postponement of Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin’s visit to Warsaw, where he was to sign important trade and energy agreements, ostensibly because of the ill-treatment of Russian citizens by Polish police, was followed by official Russian criticisms of the NATO extension into Eastern Europe. This move raised questions as to whether Poland was once again being defined as part of Russia’s "legitimate sphere of influence."

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